Touch the Dead (also known as Dead 'n' Furious in Europe) is a rail shooter/survival horror game for the Nintendo DS developed by French company Dream On Studio. The game was originally published by Virgin Play in Europe as one of their first published games, and was later co-published by Eidos Interactive (under the Secret Stash Games brand) and V.2 Play (being the only game Virgin Play released in North America) in North America. The game's North American box art was created by artist Arthur Suydam, famous for his work on the Marvel Zombies line of comics.

Gameplay

Touch the Dead is a rail shooter. Players use the stylus to point at oncoming zombies on the bottom screen. Pointing fires the weapon Steiner has equipped and shots can be delivered to the head, arms, legs, and stomach. To reload, players must simply grab a clip icon (located in the bottom right-hand corner of the touch screen), and drag it to the bottom left hand corner which has an image of the 'magazine'. The D-pad and face buttons of the console are simply used to switch weapons. Both serve the same purpose, and work for both right-handed and left-handed players. Health and ammunition can be recovered by shooting crates and cabinets. The player also has the option of shooting switches to open doors and choose a left or right path when a fork appears. Either path chosen will still yield the same bonuses.

Weapons

Storyline

Protagonist Rob Steiner, or Prisoner #1809, has been transferred to Ashdown Hole State Penitentiary. Steiner has been accused of and sentenced for a murder that he did not commit. The intro movie shows him being transferred, and his mugshots. Resting in his cell, Steiner's cell door opens. Seeing his chance for escape, Steiner flees his cell into the Penitentiary, which is mysteriously occupied by zombies. By the game's end, Steiner has gone through the entire prison, the sewer system, the prison hospital, and the rooftops of the prison. Steiner eventually escapes, but realizes that there is much more to go. He finds an airboat that he uses to dredge through a thick swamp, until he eventually comes to an abandoned military base. Steiner fights his way through the zombie-infested base, and is ultimately rescued via helicopter. It is also implied, though not mentioned directly that Steiner was placed there on purpose by the military or whoever it was that rescued him. The moment Steiner is saved, one of the men tells him that they did not believe he would make it out and that Steiner is more dangerous than they had previously thought. It ends with Steiner being placed in handcuffs and the choppers leaving what appears to be an island.

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. It was heavily criticized for its "blocky" graphics and repetitive sound; however, it received great appreciation for its innovative gameplay which makes excellent use of the touch screen. Most complaints stemmed from its reloading system which requires the player to move a magazine from one side of the screen to the other to reload, wasting precious seconds in an already difficult game. IGN cited its mediocre graphics and poor originality. GameSpot also criticized the graphics, but still appreciated its original gameplay.